Uncontrollable Memories
by sistah21
Summary: When Joey Wheeler thinks about everything he has lost, he decides to deal with it with the most unexpected action ever...


Uncontrollable Memories 

It was the 24th of December, the day before the big tragedy. Everyone was so excited for Christmas, that's typical. But one boy sees Christmas differently. He remembered the time when his mother and father have split up, which was too much for him to handle.

He was separated from his sister, which he loved most of all. And, yes, you guessed it; it was Christmas when this horrible event happened to him.

He was sitting at the cold, dark streets of Domino, thinking about how to spend Christmas. He put together all the events that happened to his life: First of all, he lost his mom and sister; he didn't know where they were living now. Next, he ran away from home, he couldn't take the pressure of living in a home full of memories of his past.

Like when he chased his little sister around the house. He just can't forget the moments. Tears fell down his eyes when he thought of everything. His long, blonde hair was wet with the melting snow. His face was full of regret and sadness.

Just one look at him and you'll know that he led a miserable life. "Hey Joey! Wanna go at my place tonight?" someone asked from behind. "Sure Yug. I'll be right there in a minute," the blonde boy said, which now we know as Joey.

"Yugi, wait. I just want to ask you something, what is it like to be… loved?" Joey asked, hiding his tears from his best friend. "What do you mean?" the curious friend asked, now known as Yugi. "Oh… nothing." Joey said, completely hiding his sadness with a happy expression on his face.

"C'mon now, Joey! We're going to be late!" the young boy said, running towards the direction of a game shop. "Late for what?" his friend asked, drawing a curious look on his face. "Late for meeting Tea! She's going to be there at my place…" he ran in the game shop with Joey.

"Hey gramps!" Yugi said, waving at his grandfather. The old man seemed to be busy with something so they left him there. Yugi and Joey went to the Living room, and that's where they saw a beautiful girl waiting patiently for someone.

"Tea!" Yugi exclaimed. Joey and Tea exchanged weird looks. "Umm… Yugi, you seem to be excited about something." She said. "Me? Excited? Umm… no, not at all! I'm just, umm… glad to see you!" Yugi said. Joey knew he was trying to cover the truth.

"Uhh… but we see each other everyday!" Tea exclaimed, raising an eyebrow. "Yugi just wanted to say that you really make him feel good when he sees you." he winked at Yugi. "Oh, thanks Yugi!" Tea said, looking a bit confused.

"So, what's up? Why'd you invite me here?" she asked. "I wanted to give you my present early…" Yugi exclaimed shyly. "Aww… you didn't have to, Yugi!" Tea said, slightly surprised. "So, let me see it!" she said, excited to see her gift.

"Umm… guys, let me leave you two for a moment, I've got to shop fro presents…" Joey remembered, but at the same time winking at Yugi. "Umm… ok." He said. Joey ran off out of the shop, looking for some stuff to buy.

While Joey looked for some things to buy, Yugi showed Tea what he worked hard for. "Y-Yugi… this is, wonderful…" she exclaimed, looking at the present. She looked at it for a bit, and she smiled with tears in her eyes. "Th-this is what I've wanted… but I can't earn for it though… thanks Yugi…" she said, looking at the very beautiful diamond tiara.

"You're welcome, Tea." Yugi said, blushing. "Umm… Yugi? I can't believe I'll do this…" Tea said, kissing Yugi's cheek. "Th-that was for the present." Tea exclaimed, blushing while at it. Yugi smiled for a while and looked at Tea with teary eyes. "Tea, do you notice anything about Joey lately? I'm kinda worried about him." Yugi said. "Well, he just ran away from home, and went living his life in an apartment… what do you think is the reason?" Tea asked. "We'll see…" Yugi replied.

Meanwhile… Joey was running off the street, thinking about what Yugi was doing with Tea at that moment. "Hope he has a good time alone with her." He whispered. His running started to become sprinting. His tears started flowing again. "Christmas, the worst time of the year…" he whispered, whipping his tears with his arm. "Watch it, mutt." Joey bumped into a boy with dark brown hair and cold blue eyes. "What's wrong, mutt? Scared I'll hurt you?" he asked, laughing maniacally.

"It… it's nothing." The blonde said, wiping his tears and running towards a direction far away from this boy. "Hey! Come back here! Is there something wrong?" the boy asked, curious about the blonde. Joey ignored his curiosity and kept running. He can't see anything because his tears blinded him; it was like he cried all of the water in his body. "SERENITY! WHERE ARE YOU!" he cried, kneeling on the path.

He obviously didn't know where he was. He looked around and saw a large river. It seemed like he was on a bridge. "Odd, there's nobody here…" he whispered. But then an idea came to his mind. "Tomorrow, I'll live in peace…" the young boy said, smiling a bit. "Oh well, I better buy them gifts now, even that mean Seto Kaiba, I'm sure I'll miss him…" he told himself.

He smiled, walking to the opposite direction, which is where he came from. He walked thinking of all the good things his friends did for him, how Yugi taught him how to duel almost as good as himself, and stuff like that.

"I'll miss you guys…" he whispered. He found that brown haired boy again. "Hey mutt, you okay?" he asked. "Yeah, I… I'm fine." He replied. "Why did you seem like you had something heavy in your mind?" he asked. "It's nothing, Kaiba, really… I… I have to go now, see ya!" Joey said, waving goodbye.

"I can't believe I just smiled at Kaiba…" he whispered. He went to a shop and bought some stuff that Yugi and the gang will probably like, Joey had lots of money from his day job anyhow.

After shopping, he headed towards the apartment and looked at the clock. "Hmm… 9pm… gotta sleep…" he whispered. He began to drift into his dreams…

"Huh? Where am I?" Joey whispered. He looked around and saw a very peaceful place. He saw lots of birds and trees; it was like a paradise! He looked around, wondered how he got here. After he looked around, he heard voices of laughter somewhere in the middle of the forest.

He ran towards the sound and what he saw surprised him. "S-Serenity?" his eyes widened. "Hey Joey! I miss you so much! Where have you been?" she asked him, smiling and hugging him. "I've been… well… looking for you!" Joey said, hugging his little sister. He laughed with her, skipping along the forest.

"Hey look, it's mom and dad!" Serenity pointed. They were having a picnic near a waterfall. "Hi kids! How's it going?" his mom asked. "F-fine, mom!" he said, hugging his mom and dad. Tears flowed from his eyes. "I… I miss you, mom, dad… you people are the best." He said. "Th-this isn't real, ain't it?" Joey asked in a low voice. "What do you mean dear?" his mom asked.

Joey just smiled, with tears in his eyes. "This ain't real. I know it ain't. This is just too impossible, mom. Impossible… I mean, you just separated with dad because you fell in love with another man. And dad, I know you wouldn't accept her to be your wife again, she's married to another man too! And Serenity, I know you love me as much I love you, but it's impossible for us to meet… simply impossible…" Joey's eyes were sore from crying.

"But dear…" "No buts this time mom, this is only a fantasy, a dream… A DREAM!" Joey screamed.

"Joey… Joey? Joey, wake up!" Joey opened his eyes and saw Yugi, Tea and another brown haired boy. "Hey Tea, Tristan, Yugi. What's up?" Joey asked, smiling. He remembered his dream suddenly, then his smile turned into a fake one.

"Joey, we have been waking you up for the past thirty minutes… and you have been muttering some words too." Tristan said. "And why do you have tears in your eyes?" Tea asked.

"I think I had a bad dream… but I forgot what it was…" Joey said. "You were actually screaming, you really can't remember anything? You screamed the name Serenity." Tea said. "By the way, who is this Serenity? You said that you missed her so much, is she your ex-girlfriend?" Tea asked. "No, she's my… sister…" Joey said. "You miss her, do ya?" Tristan asked. "Y-yeah, I sure do." Joey said. "Anyway, here are my gifts for ya'll, have fun with them, and Merry Christmas!" Joey said.

"Why didn't you wait for midnight, dumb brain?" Tristan said. "I was just… over excited." Joey replied. "Give these to Seto and Mokuba for me, okay?" Joey asked, handing out the presents to all of them.

"Seto and Mokuba? Well, Mokuba is fine, but Seto? You'll actually give gifts to Seto? You must be joking." Tristan said, laughing at him. "Seriously, give it to them." Joey replied.

"Wow! Thanks Jou! This is so cool!" Tristan said as he played with his new Spiderman action figure. "You like Spiderman? Oh, anyway, thanks Jou, we love your gifts… and… WOW, THIS IS THE COOLEST GIFT EVER!" Tea said as she opened hers. Hers was a beautiful dress, only used for dancing. "Thanks Jou, I mean it, this is so cool…" Tea said, giving Joey the biggest hug ever.

"Joey, I can't believe it! THIS IS THE BOOK I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR IN DAYS! The secret to impress your crush… I mean, umm, thanks Joey!" Yugi said, keeping the book in his backpack. He gave Joey a hug and set off for Seto's mansion. "Wait! How did you get in here in the first place?" Joey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Umm… the door, you left it open, stupid." Tristan said. "Oh, did I?" Joey laughed. He closed the door shut and said, "Bye guys, I'll miss ya'll…" he said, opening the door once more.

He looked around; the guys weren't there anymore. He silently walked to the river he has been to yesterday. "Bye guys… I'll miss ya'll… I ain't needed here anyway…" Joey whispered, climbing up the railing of the bridge.

He put one foot up, ready to jump from the 60-foot tall bridge into the cold depths of the river.

At this moment, it was obvious that he was trying to kill himself. "Goodbye, world…" he said, finally jumping into his death. He finally realized that the river WAS deeper than he thought. It was almost as deep as the pacific, speaking hypothetically of course.

"Joey! JOEY!" a teenager said from the background. He was too late, the boy sank into the water already, which had some ice particles in it, frozen by the weather. "Joey, you're crazy…" this teen said again. He was the brown haired boy from yesterday.

He happened to pass by the suicide, only he went there because he wanted to enjoy the scenery and get away from stress. He dove in too, ignoring the fact that HE TOO, might die. At last, he saw Joey's body, sinking more into the deep, watery abyss of the river.

The boy held his body tight in his arms and swam back up to nearby land. He laid Joey's body on the ground and tried to get the water out of him by punching hi chest. "Wake up, Joey! Wake up! I have to admit, I don't want you to die!" Seto said, now yelping for help if someone was actually watching them.

Seto sighed and said, "I think I have no other choice but to… use the mouth-to-mouth thing I learned at school…" He went closer to Joey, and even closer. But he can't do it, absolutely not. "Joey you idiot, wake up! I can't just leave your friends wondering where you went! And your parents, or whoever you are with…" Seto said with a worried look on his face.

Seto was never worried for anyone else like this, especially for a rival at Duel Monsters.

Anyway, in Joey's mind…

"Wh-where am I? Am I dead?" Joey asked. He looked around the place and saw some stairs. He climbed it up, but it seemed like an endless staircase to him, just one look at it, you'll know it leads somewhere never ending.

He continued climbing, but it was weird that his fear of heights vanished when he climbed the stairs, and it has no banisters! "Joey! Come back!" Joey looked behind him. Way, way down was Yugi, Tea, Tristan, Seto, Mokuba and… Serenity.

"Serenity?" Joey exclaimed. He looked around more; everything was pure white, except for his friends and himself. "Wait! I'm coming, I'm coming!" Joey exclaimed, running down the staircase.

He was on his way but something was shouting from the top of the staircase. "Joey…" someone or something was calling his name, he only saw its shadow. "Joey…" it called again in a faint voice.

"Wh-what is it?" Joey asked, uncertain of what's above him. "I have everything you want, just come with me…" it said again. "I-I'm sorry, but I'd rather choose my friends than anything else."

"I like your attitude, lad, just make sure to guard your friends alwaysss…" it said, the shadow finally disappearing.

"Joey, wake up… Joey…" the teenager said, not yet giving up. "Huh? What happened? Seto? Why are you here?" Joey said, finally waking up. "Don't tell me you just acted the whole thing!" Seto said angrily. "What do you mean by 'acted'? And where are we?" Joey asked, his eyes still half opened.

"So, you're telling the truth, eh? Ok… you tried to kill yourself and I saved you… that was only a thank you for the gifts that you gave us…" Seto said, covering the fact that he really missed Joey so much.

"C'mon, let me show you something…" Seto said, dragging you throughout the whole park, going to Yugi's house.

"I bring you, Serenity…" Seto exclaimed, happy for once. "Th-thanks, I can't believe you'd do this for me…" Joey said, teary-eyed. He hugged his sister to see if she was the real thing.

"I miss you, Joey…" Serenity said, sobbing all her tears out. "So did I…" Joey exclaimed.

THE END


End file.
